A NIGERIAN-born schoolboy sprinter living in Ireland may be prevented from representing his adopted country in Europe because of his undecided immigration status in the country.
Sixteen-year-old Navan-based athlete Kelvin Ekanem, who has been living here for the past five years, has secured a place representing Ireland in the European Schools’ Championships, after winning the intermediate 100-metre sprint at the Irish Schools’ event last weekend.
Ekanem, who was representing his school St Patrick’s, blew away the competition at the inter-school event. He told Metro Eireann: “I only really got involved in athletics about a year ago so it was brilliant to do so well.”
Ekanem’s mother Mayean told Metro Eireann that she initially did not realise how big the award her son had won was: “I was only told afterwards how important the event was and that it meant that he would be representing Ireland. His teachers were really proud of him. They told me that he had made history for the school by getting that far. He was so excited, it was a brilliant day.”
However, there are fears that Kelvin may not be allowed to travel abroad for the European event, which is expected to take place sometime in July in the UK. The immigration status of the family – one of whom has also been on an FAI development programme for promising soccer players – has yet to be decided.
It would be a hard blow for the versatile youngster, who previously planned to take part in a rugby competition in England but was stopped at passport control in Dublin Airport because he did not have the proper travel documents.
The teenager – and his team-mates – were devastated when the player was left behind while the rest of his team departed.
Mayean commented, “We’re still waiting on word from the Department [of Justice] on Kelvin’s travel documents. He could be prevented from travelling again. Nothing has come up yet so we just don’t know.
“It would be so unfair and so hard on him if he were to be stopped from going abroad to represent Ireland, especially after what happened with the rugby team.”
